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KEY TAKEAWAYS
1.. For elite and pro golfers, the “big rocks” of recovery are brutally simple: sleep (and jet-lag management) plus sound nutrition/hydration drive the most reliable gains; everything else is garnish.
2. Evidence specific to golf is thin (only 39 studies made the cut since 2000), so practitioners should apply best practices from broader sport science but anchor routines to golf’s unique travel, swing load, and tournament cadence.
I was recently perusing the journal Sports Medicine, and this article caught my eye. Mainly because my best mate, Bruce, had been badgering me about nutrition for his son (my godson, Jamie), because Jamie wants to be a professional golfer. The review is titled “Recovery for Professional and Elite Amateur Golfers” (published 21 Aug 2025). The principles described align beautifully with what we do at Fuelin. So, let's jump in.
What problem is this paper attempting to solve?
Golf is a high-strain, high-travel sport. Pros & elite golfers cross time zones (international and national), live out of suitcases, and stack ~2000 swings in a tournament week, with compressive spinal forces that can reach as high as eight times body mass on big swings and 40–80 km of walking per week. That’s a lot of mechanical and cognitive load for a sport most people still mistakenly call “low intensity.”
Recovery guidance specific to golf is scarce. From 4862 candidate articles across 2000– 2024, only 39 papers met the criteria for inclusion. As a result, we have to blend golf-specific evidence with broader best practices in sports nutrition and recovery. The same principles we apply to Fuelin. That's why this is cool, because I believe that Fuelin covers all these principles and more. It can be the framework used usually by endurance athletes, yet applied to golfers. Four!
The Main Categories Reviewed
The authors of the paper grouped the available evidence into six themes 1. Sleep & relaxation 2. Travel fatigue & jet-lag management 3. Nutrition & hydration 4. Mobility 5. Adjunct methods (eg cold, massage) and 6. Lab/controlled environment methods. I have broken down the paper into what I believe are the most practical elements and the the most bang for your buck.
The Immediate Action
The big take-home message from the paper was to prioritise sleep, minimise jet-lag and focus on nutrition/hydration. The other stuff, like Normatec boots, massage guns, foam rollers, ice baths etc comes secondary to the foundational focus. Build on concrete, not sand. Use different modalities to support (not replace) the foundations. Sounds familiar? I bang on about this to every endurance athlete that Fuelin helps optimise.
Priority Number One: Sleep + Jet-lag Management
Time-zone hopping wrecks circadian alignment and consistency—both crucial for technical execution and decision-making in multi-day events. The review underscores sleep quantity and quality as non-negotiables, and flags jet lag as a routine limiter for tour players.
Before travel: arrive prepared—documents sorted; maximise rest in the 48 h pre-flight; plan hydration and meals; choose the most direct route to minimise stopovers.
In-flight: hydrate, move periodically, and use chewing gum to support salivary IgA—one small lever against illness risk. Aim for enough fluid that you’re getting up to pee. Remember that the risk of dehydration on a plane is increased due to the cabin pressure and low humidity. If you have not read my review of Flykitt or listened to Jan and me discuss Travel nutrition, it could be worth doing so.
Do not ignore the importance of sleep hygiene and east-west travel plans. What is crazy is that most of the young golfers are wearing devices like WHOOP to track metrics like sleep and recovery. No matter how good these wearables are, if you don’t follow the advice surrounding your lack of sleep and therefore lack of recovery, do not expect to make advances in your adaptation or performance week on week. It simply will not happen. If you are not getting enough sleep, then prioritise this as a key component of your training week. Similar to how you might prioritise a putting session or hitting the driving range!
Priority Number Two: Nutrition & Hydration - “Three Rs” plus a bonus
For hot, long tournament days, the paper review proposes a three-window daily approach that is complete common sense - post-round, evening, & pre-bed. It also mentions the classic “3 Rs” immediately after play.
Rehydrate: This is precisely what we would stress at Fuelin. Weigh yourself before and after each round and consume ~1.5-2.0 L per kg of body mass lost during the round. It might sound OCD, yet I guarantee you might be shocked as to how much you have lost and how much you need to replace after hole 18 if your on-course fluid management has been poor. You can do this directly in Fuelin, and it will calculate your fluid intake, sweat rate, and predicted fluid requirements based on intensity and temperature. It's pretty cool. You can include sodium (in drinks or food) to replace sweat sodium—it doesn’t have to be a special beverage if the post-round meal is salted.
Repair: 20–40 g of high-quality protein within 60 minutes and no more than two hours after finishing your round. It does not have to be a protein shake, although for pure convenience, this might be the best option and allow you to repair whilst sorting out duties befire settling into a proper meal. Other convenient options like milk, Greek yogurt, smoothies, or cold cuts are also good protein options if media/practice commitments push dinner later.
Restore: Appropriate carbohydrate intake to refill muscle and liver glycogen so you don’t pay for today on the back nine tomorrow. The amount of carbs will depend on your body weight and your total training and tournament load. During an event week and day, you would be looking at at least 5g/kg/day to keep you going with additional carbs during the round.
Round (The bonus R) - do not try to go the entire round without drinking or eating. Depending on how hard you hit, how far you are walking, carrying bags etc, your energy expenditure adn fluid loss is high, especially if the temperature creeps up. Aim for 50-70g/hr of carbs, with small amounts of protein and fat. Sandwiches and wraps are perfect for achieving this. A card drink with some sodium in it will also provide fluid replacement, additional fuel, and electrolytes. 250-500mg sodium per litre would be plenty and also will encourage you to drink a bit more due to the sodium.
Golfers will often under-prioritise immediate post-round fueling because “it’s not a marathon.” But a multi-day cumulative load will impact performance if you do not follow the 3 R’s principle. Another factor to consider
Items To Consider, Yet Not Prioritise
Foam rolling: No meaningful effect on strength or explosive metrics, but can improve flexibility and reduce perceived pain at least acutely and short-term—useful as a feel-good, range-restoring tool. If you use it, move slowly or hold tender points (don’t “jackhammer” back and forth)\\
Static stretching: It creates mechanical tension so use a comfortable stretch threshold; helpful for ROM, but don’t expect direct gains in club-head speed. Use as part of a broader warm-up/cool-down, not as a magic bullet. Personally, I enjoy a mix of static stretching and mobility maneuvers. It makes me feel good. If static stretching makes you feel good, do it, yet don’t overdo it. 5-10 minutes will be plenty, especially if combining it with foam rolling and massage guns. The last thing you need to be doing is 60 minutes of stretching, mobility, and foam rolling.
Massage is traditionally favoured and plausibly helps relaxation and perceived recovery; percussive guns may improve short-term ROM and recovery feelings, but the review cautions against expecting performance boosts—and warns of potential downsides immediately after heavy lower-body work. So, despite the marketing garble around most devices, use them yet don’t count on them to turn you around if you have failed to meet the big rocks from above.
Cold can be situationally useful (e.g., during heat stress, or in tournament-dense weeks when “recovery now” beats “adaptation later”). The review positions cold as an additional strategy when recovery is the immediate goal. This is consistent with what we have always done in rugby, sailing, and ice hockey: when you are not concerned about adaptation and the plunge makes you feel better or reduces immediate discomfort, use it. Interestingly, the sauna and heat therapy were not covered. Personally, I believe a sauna could be utilised, provided hydration and fluid management are carefully managed, and the duration in the sauna is kept to a maximum of 30 minutes. Monitor your weight after the sauna, and rehydrate using the formula above for any weight loss within the first 60 minutes after stepping out.
Why Golf Isn’t Just “Walk, Swing, Repeat”
The paper highlights the biomechanical load of the modern swing—spinal compression exceeding 7000 N in some analyses—and the volume of repeated swings plus walking under decision-making pressure over four days. That cumulative load explains why foundational recovery behaviours such as sleep and fueling and simple mobility work can shift outcomes more than exotic gadgets.
A Practical Framework
Daily Tournament Rhythm
Wake: Early sun exposure to the eyes. Caffeine timing - either coffee, gum or product aligned to tee time; brief mobility. Gum will peak around 20 minutes after consumption, whereas other forms will take roughly 60 minutes.
Pre-round: Carb-dominant meal with protein (E.g. overnight oats are a favourite option) +/- electrolytes; finalise bathroom schedule - once you have finished, weigh yourself because this is a pre-weight for hydration management.
During round: Planned fluid/sodium and snack cadence matched to heat/tee time. This will get easier to understand once you have logged sweat tests in Fuelin.
Post-round (within 60 minutes ideally. Up to 2 hours): Rehydrate (1.5-2.0 L/kg lost) + 30–40 g protein + 50g carbs(potentially a shake for pure convenience and insurance) combined with a short mobility/foam roll, active recovery on bike +/- cold plunge or sauna
Evening: High-protein (30-50g, depending on daily requirements) + carbohydrate (50-100g) meal; no hero lifts if travel fatigue lingers; wind-down routine (screens down two hours befire bed, dark/cool room).
Pre-bed: Protein top-up combined with fruit if dinner was early/light; high-protein snacks can include cold cuts, milk, yoghurt, smoothies, and a piece of fruit. Bananas are great for B vitamins, carbs, and magnesium. Set wake time to the local clock. Turn off the TV and clocks at the wall rather than on standby.
Travel Weeks (Mon–Wed before a Thu start)
Book the most direct flight. Hydrate in-flight - take a drink bottle and do not drink alcohol, chew gum (immune support), and stand and move. On arrival, mobility within 2-4 hours of landing and light practice; heavy lifting is optional—auto-regulate based on fatigue.
CONCLUSION
If you’re chasing marginal gains in golf recovery, you’ll get major returns by treating sleep/jet-lag and post-round fueling like your gold clubs and equipment —planned, measured, and reviewed. Modalities like foam rolling, stretching, massage, and cold are useful accessories, but they don’t make up for poor sleep or under-fueling. In other words, stop polishing headcovers if your clubs are still in the airport. Everyone wants the magic bullet. The reality is the best guys, do the basics really well and do them consistently.
Thank you,
Scott